


Falling

by lookingforthestars



Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Long Road Back, Post "Wreck the Halls", tons of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-11 05:29:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8956285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookingforthestars/pseuds/lookingforthestars
Summary: Walter and Paige are a million miles away from where they used to be, and maybe they'll never get that back.





	1. Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sick and painfully bored all week so I'm mostly just writing because I need to exercise my brain before it leaks out of my ears. Anyway, clearly this Tim/Paige thing is going way further than any of us expected or wanted it to. We can all agree that Christmas episode was tough, and I'm really just about to make it worse with some more angst. But my heart is always with Waige, so it won't end with her and Tim eloping in Cabo or anything.
> 
> I'm constantly going back and forth over whether Paige or Walter is responsible for this whole tragic mess. I'm pretty sure the answer is "both," so if it feels like I'm being unfairly harsh on one or the other, rest assured, they're both getting the blame in this story.

Paige hadn't spoken to him in two weeks.

She'd said words, of course, in his direction. She told him when it was time for lunch. She updated him on the status of projects. She made arrangements for him to spend weekends with Ralph.

But in all that time, she hadn't uttered a single word to him about herself or her relationship with Tim. No sign of anger, or sadness, or forgiveness. It was as if she'd simply walled Walter off from that part of her life.

The genius remembered her request after she found out about his interference at Lake Tahoe, and decided it would be wise to follow that course now. He kept his head down, waiting until she was comfortable discussing the subject. Though his argument with Tim was fairly cutting, the trainee had been willing to make peace. He'd tried to fix it, to put his ego and jealousy aside and ask Tim to stay. Surely Paige would cool down with time.

But patience wasn't one of the qualities he was currently working to improve.

"Can we talk?" he murmured. Paige glanced up from her laptop—she'd reluctantly agreed to keep the gift, under the provision that it was used strictly for work—and Walter noticed the generic snowflake design on the screen as she closed her files. She scanned the office, looking for Ralph and the other geniuses, but they were huddled in the back of the garage, preparing for Happy's controlled explosion.

She snapped the computer shut and rested both of her hands on top of it, sighing as she scrunched her nose. "Walter, I don't want to fight."

"Neither do I," he said quickly, stepping closer and lowering his voice even more, well aware of the team's expertise in eavesdropping. "I'm not seeking to defend my attitude toward Tim. I would merely like to…resolve…an issue that is clearly affecting our work environment."

Paige quirked her eyebrow, watching him carefully as if he was setting her up for an ambush. Eventually, she nodded and motioned for him to lead the way, standing to follow him to the loft.

She hadn't been up there in a while. Most of the memories he had of her there were good—she'd tended to his wound, following his fall from the rocket capsule; she'd bandaged his hand while they talked about his sister; she'd begged him not to risk his life because she and Ralph cared about him too much to lose him.

She'd almost kissed him.

That seemed so long ago.

Some of the memories were harder. Paige on the intercom, questioning the logic behind Megan's disease. Tearing him to pieces for endangering Ralph's future over a few stupid video games. Coming down in that devastating blue dress just to walk away with the interloper.

He used to believe they could get through anything. That felt less certain to him now.

Walter stepped aside to let her through and closed the door behind her, pausing for a second to listen for noise on the steps though, logically, he knew the geniuses didn't have to actually ascend to the loft to spy if they were so inclined. Paige stayed standing, leaning her weight against a concrete column and crossing her arms, and he abandoned his intended seat on the couch, realizing that the height imbalance would make the situation vastly more awkward.

"I, uh…" Walter cleared his throat and folded his arms over his chest to mirror her. "I apologized to Tim, but the same apology should be extended to you. I was responsible for many of the complications in his integration into Scorpion. That was unfair. He was a valuable asset to the team."

"A team you said he would never be part of."

_A team you've threatened to leave. We all say things in the heat of the moment._

"Yes," he admitted softly. "I felt t-threatened and I acted impulsively. I am sorry that Tim's place here was in question. It was never my desire to force him out."

That was, perhaps, not the full truth. But it wasn't entirely false, either. Just because he was jealous of Tim's burgeoning relationship with Ralph didn't mean that he couldn't see some benefit in it for the young genius. And just because he detested the trainee's romantic attentions toward Paige didn't mean he'd ever planned for it to be anything other than her decision.

She was quiet for a moment before dropping her arms to her side and shrugging. "Okay."

Walter coughed, thrown by her lack of a rebuttal. "Okay?"

"Yes. I accept your apology. It was good enough for Tim, so it's good enough for me." Paige paused, dropping her eyes, and the genius realized that she wasn't finished speaking. He watched silently as she toyed with the hem of her pink blouse, curling it under with her fingers and revealing the waistband of her jeans underneath. "But Walter, I, um…I need this to be over."

The genius blinked. "Tim has moved into his new position. It is over."

He didn't mean to sound so satisfied about it.

Paige shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut in the way she always did when she was supremely frustrated with him. He didn't know what she was thinking. He hadn't known what she was thinking for _weeks_ and it was slowly driving him crazy.

"It's more than Tim. You know that." Her eyes fluttered open and she pushed herself away from the column, sliding her hands down into her front pockets. "You've done this before. Going behind my back to edge out and discredit Drew. Using my mother to gain information about my childhood. You didn't think I would recognize that?" she asked when he tensed. "I know when I'm being manipulated. That's one thing I have over on you geniuses. And it's like you have this…this _need_ to insinuate yourself into my personal life through underhanded means. I'm tired of it, Walter. I give you a lot of leeway because I care about you, and you're different, I know that, but this is my real life and what you do affects it. I don't know if you understand that."

The genius swallowed, finding himself less capable than he would have liked of refuting her accusations. He could argue that he'd ended his arrangement with Veronica, but clearly Paige already knew or she would have confronted him earlier. "I d-didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't. You never do." Paige pressed her lips together and exhaled through her nose. "But you had a chance—a lot of chances—to be involved in that part of my life. And you chose not to be. Which means it's really just off-limits now. Whatever your reasons, whatever you think about my decisions, you cannot show up when you feel like it and sabotage me. I'm happy with Tim, okay? For the first time in a while. I'm happy. I need you to accept that."

He'd never meant to disrupt her life. He thought, in some stupid way, he might be able to undo his mistake in letting her go to Lake Tahoe, but that had only led to an avalanche of further errors.

_I wanted to make you happy. I just didn't know how._

He'd never been so desperate to tell her the truth. Not in any moment since he realized it. But he couldn't, not when she was looking at him like he'd taken everything from her.

Paige stared at him expectantly, but even he was capable of realizing that there was nothing he could say that wouldn't make the situation worse. "If it happens again, this becomes strictly professional. Anything between you and me will just be about running Scorpion," she said in a tense voice. "It's the only way I know to protect myself. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes," he managed, cringing inwardly at the thought of Paige having to protect herself from _him_. The team was his family, his only defense against the outside world, and he couldn't lose that.

"Good." For a brief second, Walter though he saw her determined expression slip, something sad reflected in her eyes. But she was already walking toward the door, her back to him, and he assumed he'd imagined it. "I'll see you downstairs."

He waited until he heard her transition off the metal staircase and back onto the main floor before he sank down on the couch, propping his elbows up on his knees. That hadn't gone the way he expected. Not that most things did. Perhaps they viewed his actions through different lenses, but everything she charged him with was true. He'd given up countless chances to be with her, to have a say in her life, but he couldn't let her move forward with someone else. Cabe was right. He was selfish.

Was Paige really happy with Tim? The evidence was right in front of him, though he guessed he just hadn't been able to accept it. Walter had never known the trainee to mistreat Paige or Ralph. He seemed to genuinely care for them. This wasn't a repeat of Drew. And if she was happy— _really_ happy, after all the heartbreak and hardship she'd endured—then that changed things. It wouldn't matter if he was emotionally ready or not. If he loved her, he wouldn't interfere at all.

She'd sacrificed for Tim. She gave up eight months with him. Why couldn't Walter sacrifice for her? Why was it so impossible to just let her live?

The genius dragged his hands over his face. Things had never been the same with them after Tahoe. He used to think that Paige understood him better than anyone, but now they were practically speaking different languages. Maybe he'd always been fooling himself, believing that this could work, believing that she would choose a lifetime of difficulty with him over a less stressful life with someone normal.

Maybe this was just the way it ended.


	2. Drive

"So…" Tim linked his hands in front of him, rubbing his thumb nervously. "Are we going to talk about last night?"

Paige had been on edge waiting for that question for the last forty minutes. It was late, almost eleven, and she was just about to say goodnight and sign off. But clearly he wasn't letting her off the hook.

"Yeah," she said uncertainly. "I'm sorry about that."

"Hey, don't apologize. That's not what I was looking for. I just want to make sure we're on the same page about this."

_I'm pretty we're not._ Paige had forgotten how to breathe—and not in a romantic sense—when Tim ended their previous Skype session with _goodnight Paige, I love you._

She'd muttered goodnight and shut the laptop before he could answer. Which was immature at best, and rude at worst, but she assured herself that she just needed time to process the words. Even a full day later, though, she couldn't quite categorize how it made her feel. She knew how she _should_ feel, or at least how she'd felt in the past, but none of that was present now.

Tim had been in Jordan for just over two months. It wasn't exactly a rushed declaration, but somehow it didn't seem like a natural progression of their relationship either.

She would have to analyze later.

"It surprised me, is all." Paige bit her lip and crossed her legs under the desk, leaning forward. "You know I care about you, Tim, but, uh…I think I need more time before I can say something like that and mean it."

Tim huffed out a laugh that was meant to put her at ease, but it wasn't working. "Paige, you don't have to say it back. Not until you're ready."

She sighed. Of course he'd be accepting. Sometimes she wished he would get angry, challenge her, so maybe she'd have some basis to figure out why she wasn't aching to return the sentiment. "Thank you."

"Is it okay if I keep saying it?" he asked, his voice calm and slightly hopeful. "Or do you want me to wait?"

_Please stop asking me to make decisions tonight. I don't know, okay? I don't know what I want from you._ "Can we wait? I just…you know…I want to make sure we're not rushing things."

Truthfully, she didn't think she'd be able to hear him say he loved her every day without feeling pressure to reciprocate. Paige winced as guilt washed over her. Shouldn't she be letting him tell someone that was ready to hear it?

"Yeah, of course. I know it's been a while and you need to go slow."

Paige coughed. _Not as long as you think._ "Goodnight, Tim. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

* * *

"Oh my," Veronica murmured, biting dramatically into a barbecue chip before handing Paige the bag. "Seems like he took it okay."

The liaison pressed her head back against the beige couch, willing it to swallow her whole. "He always does. I'm taking it less well. I'm the trainwreck in this relationship."

Veronica smiled at her daughter's miserable expression. "Good to know you don't have it _all_ together." She nudged Paige's shoulder with her own. "I'm glad you called me, though."

She had to admit that Veronica's new apartment was nice, as long as she didn't think too hard about where the rent or any of the furnishings were coming from. Right now, though, she found herself in the strangest need of a mother, and she wasn't surprised when Veronica greeted her midnight text with open arms. It was honestly the least she could do.

"Was it different than you imagined?" Veronica prompted after a few minutes of quiet brooding. "Something about the way he said it, maybe?"

Paige furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't know. I never thought about it."

"Really. You never thought about it? Ever?"

Everything with Tim still felt so new to her. She didn't dwell on what it would be like to move their relationship forward because she was content with where they were. Paige crunched another chip. "I just wish I could tell if I can't say it back because it's too soon, or if I'm never going to be able to. Because if I can't ever say it back, then Tim doesn't deserve that, right?"

She made a noise of agreement and kicked her feet up on the ottoman next to Paige's. "You just need a point of comparison. How long did it take you to realize that you loved Walter?"

She choked and reached for her wine glass, taking a long sip until she could breathe again. There was no way Veronica _knew_ that; she was fishing. And if this got back to Walter somehow she was going to kill them both. "That's in the past and definitely has no bearing on this."

"I wasn't saying that," she insisted with mock innocence, thought her tone suggested that was exactly what she was implying. "I merely meant for reference. You can use Drew if you like."

Paige rolled her eyes. "Ugh. I don't want to think about Drew."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that's the beginning and end of your romantic experience as an adult, so you'll have to meet me halfway here."

_Really? That's everything?_ Granted, she'd been too preoccupied to worry about men for ten years of her son's life, but still. "Great," she snorted, draining the rest of her wine. "Of course I can't commit to Tim. I have no idea what a normal relationship looks like."

Veronica moved to refill the glass, but Paige waved her away. Even though Ralph was with Sly and she didn't need to rush home, the liaison didn't want to lose too much control around her mother—she was liable to wake up on the wrong side of the legal system.

"The kid's right. You worry too much about being normal." Veronica turned sideways, tucking her left leg underneath the right and tapping her long fingernails against her glass. "You used to embrace the unusual. Weird is good, and all that."

"Wait, Ralph told you that?" She sat up, frowning when her mother nodded in response. Paige knew early on that her son would never be _normal_. Encouraging him to fit that ideal was one of the first things Walter warned her about. He wasn't normal, he was extraordinary. She'd tried to praise that, not just in her son, but in all the geniuses, so that Ralph would get the message consistently. "Does he think I don't feel that way anymore?"

The older woman shrugged. "You'll have to ask him. But you know," her lips curled up, "I wasn't really surprised to find you here. In the midst of all this chaos. With a son like Ralph."

"Really?" Because Paige had certainly been surprised and sometimes, when she was outrunning an explosion or dodging bullets from a drug dealer, she still couldn't quite believe where she'd ended up.

"Yeah. Even when you were a kid, I knew you wouldn't be boring. I hoped your life would be a little more stable than mine, I guess." She smirked. "But you were always destined for something bigger. I'm glad you found it. Or that it found you."

_Bigger_ was one word for it. But she couldn't deny the sense of purpose she experienced working for Scorpion. She couldn't deny that it felt like home. Most of the time. Maybe less so lately.

Veronica reached up and curled a strand of Paige's hair off her face. It was the type of motherly action that usually made the liaison cringe, but perhaps she'd consumed just enough alcohol to combat that reflex. "Look, if you want my advice—." Paige glanced at her skeptically. "Fine, maybe you don't. But you're trying way too hard, honey. There's only so many times you can push yourself to stay on a path that doesn't feel right." She clinked Paige's glass with hers. "We're a family of rebels, honey. Get used to it."

* * *

Eleven months.

She deflected successfully enough while she was with her mother, but in the absolute quiet of her apartment, she turned the question over and over in her mind until she fell asleep.

Eleven months. That was the first time Paige had ever entertained the concept of _love_ when it came to Walter. She had a hunch it might have taken less time, but he was so adamant that romantic love was a flimsy fantasy, and she was determined not to be the only one _in love_. Unrequited love was for teenagers and Shakespearean tragedies.

But he didn't feel that way anymore.

Sometimes she would look up from her desk and see him on his laptop, or working on a project with Ralph, or—worse—staring back at her, and she would remember every detail of that day. Exactly how it felt to hear him say that he loved her. That he thought they'd be together. Then she would recall that he didn't know, he didn't remember, and he had never said those words to her consciously. And she would barely resist the urge to bang her head on her desk, because this had all drifted so far out of her control.

It was only fair to give Tim the same amount of time, right? But she couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't the same. She and Tim were together, he was actively wooing her, they were talking every day and he seemed certain that he was in love with her. She'd had to fight for every emotional interaction she had with the genius and it still only took less than a year.

When Walter was hypoxic, when he poured his heart out to her, she'd been terrified. Overwhelmed. Shocked. More than a little swept off her feet. Even thinking about it, months later, sent a bolt of adrenaline rushing through her. And then Tim said the same three words to her—wanted to keep saying them to her—and somehow it felt empty. She felt empty.

That couldn't be right. She had feelings for Tim. She was attracted to him and she enjoyed spending time with him. She'd missed him while he was gone. She should love him.

_You're trying too hard, honey._

Paige was starting to understand what her mother meant. Why was this so important? Why was it killing her to know that this was the best thing for her, and it wasn't enough?

If Ralph was struggling, she knew exactly what she'd tell him. That it was okay to be different. That it was okay not to want something, even if everyone else did, even if it seemed like he should.

So why couldn't she take her own advice?

"Mom? You almost hit a cone."

Paige blew out a deep breath and refocused her eyes on the road, cursing herself for her terrible mothering. What if Ralph got hurt because she was distracted? "Sorry, baby. I've just got a lot on my mind." But while he was here, there was a least one issue she could unpack. "Can I ask you something?" she asked tentatively, unsure if she was ready to hear his response.

He glanced through the front windshield, then his side window, and then back at her. "You can speed if you want. All the cops are going south. Probably an accident."

"Uh…thanks." Though tempted, Paige decided it was better not to test his theory while she was already driving with half her brain. But she did file it away under _Ralph's special skills_ for future reference. "Actually, it's something else. Something Grandma said yesterday."

"Oh boy."

She laughed despite herself. Ralph always knew how to cut through her anxiety and he wasn't even trying. "No. It was something you said to her. That…that I used to think it was good to be weird, but now I'm worried about being normal." She sank her teeth into her lip and chanced another look at him. "Is that how you feel?"

The young genius slumped down in his seat, physically deflating in front of her as if he was trying to disappear. "I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

There was an immediate pang in her chest and she rushed to correct him. "No, honey, I know you didn't. And you should never hold back something you need to say because you're worried it'll hurt me. I'm your mom. I can handle it." She offered a hasty smile to reassure him and reached out to stroke his hair, realizing somewhere in the back of mind that he was long overdue for a cut. "I'm only asking because…it's important to me that you know I'm proud of you. And I love everything that makes you different. So if you ever feel like I-I'm expecting you to be something you aren't, I need you to tell me."

Ralph was quiet for a few miles, and Paige bit her tongue to resist filling the silence. This was still a balancing act for her. Sometimes she thought, however illogically, that one wrong word could make him shut down and revert to his days of silence. And she was confident she wouldn't survive that again.

"It's not that, exactly," he replied eventually, frowning in concentration. "It's more like…the way you treat the team. You used to like that we were weird. And now that stuff seems to annoy you."

Paige's vision blurred and she quickly blinked back the beginnings of tears. How did she not know that Ralph saw her that way? _We._ He was identifying with Scorpion, and she was on the outside. "I love the team, Ralph. And you. This is our family."

"I know you _love_ us. But it's just the stuff you say sometimes. Like that we're mold. Or we're not human. I don't think you really mean it, but it's different now. You understood us better before."

The liaison was grateful to reach the school because she knew it was dangerous to drive when her heart was crumbling. She found a spot in the lot instead of pulling up to the front and pushed the car into park, twisting around in her seat to face her son. After a second of hesitation, she placed her palms on his face, surprised when he didn't pull away. "Nothing has made me happier than starting to understand you, Ralph. I know I never will completely, but I promise I'll try harder, okay?"

He placed his fingers on her wrists and gently tugged them away, shaking his head. "Not just me, mom. All of us. You're the translator and we need you."

"Okay. I promise." Paige leaned in and kissed his forehead, smoothing his hair back into place before reaching behind her to unlock the doors. "We'll talk later, okay? We'll get dinner. Anywhere you want."

Ralph mumbled something incoherent and jumped out as she was urging him to have a good day. Instead of leaving immediately for the garage, she shut off the engine and bent her arms on top of the steering wheel as she watched him, overwhelmed by equal senses of pride and colossal failure. He was disappointed in her. She'd been letting him down for months and didn't even recognize it. Just like she'd let him down when she used to call him _challenged_ instead of realizing how rare and brilliant he was.

And it wasn't just him. Ralph seemed adamant that her attitude toward all the geniuses had suffered. It hurt her to admit that he was right. She'd been holding them up to an impossible standard. A standard that wasn't meant for people like them. She never used to do that. _Before._ Though he didn't say it, Paige had a hunch her son meant _before Tim_.

And she'd been the hardest on Walter. The man most like her son.

If she really wanted Ralph to know that she accepted him, for everything that he was, Paige knew where she would have to start.


	3. Heat

She'd been trying.

It was different in the garage. Paige had almost forgotten what it was like to have fun with the geniuses. Cookouts on the roof, card games, movie nights. She had an awful lot of free time lately, and she'd been spending the majority of it with the team, partially because she got tired of being alone with her thoughts at home but mostly because it made Ralph happy, and that always felt like a sign that she was doing the right thing.

There wasn't a selfish bone in her son's body, and she knew he'd tried to support her, to put her happiness first. But once she finally drew the truth out of him—over milkshakes in a booth at Kovelsky's—everything that had seemed so blurry suddenly came into focus. He was her most important thing. All she really needed to be happy. At least until the day that what made her happy and what made him happy were one and the same.

"Ralph, honey." She tucked a loose tag into the back of his shirt and pointed to the Proton Arnold screen in front of him. "Finish your game and get your stuff. We have to leave soon."

Toby leaned against the machine and made a loud _hmm_ noise, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Why such a rush, Miss Dineen? Does someone have a hot Skype date tonight?"

"Idiot," Happy contributed, jamming her elbow into his side and rolling her eyes as he coughed, winded. "Jordan is ten hours ahead of L.A. It's like four a.m. there."

"Are you suggesting that our lovely liaison isn't worth waking up early for?" the psychologist asked with mock offense on her behalf. "Because I would argue that—."

"We're going to an event at the art museum," Ralph interrupted matter-of-factly before hopping off the stool and crossing over to pick up his backpack from its position near Paige's desk. He frowned as he glanced over at his mother, who was logging off her computer. "Don't they know you and Tim broke up?"

Five pairs of eyes whipped to her simultaneously and the garage fell abruptly silent, save for Sylvester's choked cough. Paige closed the laptop and pressed her lips together. "Nope."

The young genius winced. "Sorry. I didn't know it was a secret."

"It wasn't."

"Kind of seems like it was."

"Yeah, I agree," Toby piped up unnecessarily. "When were you going to tell us?"

Paige could handle the scrutiny coming at her from all angles in the garage—she'd gotten used to that years ago—but there was one gaze she couldn't bring herself to meet. She kept her eyes down as she closed her desk drawer and dropped her cell phone into her purse. "There's nothing to tell, now you know, and we're late." She wrapped her arm around Ralph's shoulders and steered him toward the door, escaping Toby's audible whining about his failure to figure it out first and a chorus of other scandalized mumblings.

But Walter didn't say anything.

* * *

"How long?" Paige asked for the fifth time.

"They're twelve minutes out," Walter muttered, checking Cabe's GPS location on his phone for her benefit even though the team's progress since she last asked was hardly worth mentioning. She slumped back into her seat, pushing her hair off her face with both hands. It was hot, almost ninety-eight degrees, and she'd already removed her long-sleeved shirt, leaving on the gray tank underneath. He was trying not to stare.

Granted, there wasn't much else to look at when they were stranded in the middle of the desert in a broken-down truck. No air conditioning and no use walking to get help when the team was in close proximity. Perhaps not close enough. Paige was growing restless in his company and he seemed to be agitating her even though he wasn't saying anything.

He wanted to say the right thing. If he'd been holding back in the couple of days since Ralph let it slip that the interloper was out of the picture, it wasn't because he didn't care. Paige had made it abundantly clear that his role in her personal life was limited. Things were…better, he guessed, since she and Ralph were staying at the garage more, but that wasn't exactly clearing a high bar.

"I need some air." She kicked her door the rest of the way out with her foot, slamming it behind her and creating a refreshing but temporary breeze. Walter considered advising her to stay in the shade, but determined that a few minutes in the sun was unlikely to cause any lasting negative effects.

Paige mumbled to herself, under her breath, and kicked absently at the dirt before resting her weight against the front of the truck and crossing her arms. He tried to force his eyes down to his phone, but they kept drifting to her of their own volition, to the curves of her bare shoulders and the strands of hair that had fallen out of her elastic and were clinging to the back of her neck. She was beautiful, even when she was sweating and obviously irritated. Walter didn't allow himself to study her this way much, anymore, but it was too tempting when she was oblivious to his attention.

There was a time they both would have enjoyed being together like this. They'd delivered the software, the mission was over, and if things were good, she would kill time by playing music on her phone and singing along. Or he would offer up a riddle to test her. Or they would just sit and talk about Ralph, how amazing he was, how much their lives revolved around him.

He missed that so much it made him ache.

Maybe it would never be like that again, but it certainly didn't have to be like this. The buttons on his shirt had long since been opened, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, but he decided to keep it on over his undershirt for added protection from the sun. He got out of the truck, coming to a stop silently next to her.

He heard her exhale, but she didn't move. "You're upset," he said quietly, knowing there was likely a better way to start but clueless as to what it might be.

"Not at you." Paige kept her eyes ahead, but her body softened and he felt himself relax in response. "It's just been a long day and I'm tired. And hot."

He was sure Toby would have a witty remark about that.

Walter cleared his throat. "Paige, uh…" He knew he shouldn't ask, he should just keep things light until the team came to get them, but it slipped past his lips anyway. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, I just need water and a shower—."

"N-no," he interrupted nervously, consciously bypassing any thoughts of Paige in the shower. "Um, I meant…" Walter paused, choosing his words deliberately. "What Ralph said the other day. I want to know if y-you're okay. About it. But I don't want to overstep, so can you…can you just tell me whatever is acceptable for me to know?"

Paige was quiet for a long moment. He was trying to respect her boundaries, but lately it seemed like everything he did set her off. He didn't want to alienate her entirely. That outcome was too difficult to consider.

But she just dropped her gaze to the dusty ground and bit her lip. "It happened a couple of weeks ago. It, uh…it wasn't right for Ralph. And that was really the only factor I needed to consider." Her eyes met his, just for a second, before she tore them away. "I'm fine."

She didn't seem _fine_ , but she didn't seem devastated either. Though maybe she was and hid it well. Walter couldn't read her like he used to. "I'm sorry," he murmured, blowing out a breath as he hunched his shoulders. She looked at him curiously.

"Are you?"

The question caught him off guard. He thought it would be a polite thing to say. Did he mean it? That was…harder to answer. It was no secret that he'd tried to win her back from the trainee, but...

"You were happy with him." The words tasted bitter on his tongue but Walter shrugged as if they didn't bother him. "You d-deserved that. Someone normal."

The genius hadn't meant it as a dig, but Paige immediately pulled away, backing up several steps with her arms still crossed. She shot him a glare. "Don't do that, Walter. Don't act like that's what this was about."

He swallowed, _God_ , they were finally talking and he screwed it up again. "It's okay, Paige. You're normal, it's logical that you would gravitate toward someone who was also normal. And that you would expect such a relationship to be successful…"

Her fiery stare made it clear that his attempts to smooth over his blunder were wasted on her, and the rest of his sentence died out in his throat. "Is that what you think? That everything just works out for people like me?" Paige pushed back on her heels, shaking her head. He'd borne the brunt of her frustration before, but this was more intense than usual, like she'd been holding it in. "That's your problem. You blame everything on being different. You think it's inevitable that things will go wrong for you because you're not normal, instead of accepting that you've made a bad decision."

Walter cringed at the venom in her words.

"There is nothing wrong with the way you are," she snapped, and he probably would have appreciated the sentiment more if she wasn't barking it at him. "Sometimes things just suck. And sometimes you mess up and you need to live with that. I'm tired of all these passive-aggressive comments when _you_ had the power to make this play out a lot differently."

She was talking about them now. Even Walter couldn't miss the subtext. He intended to apologize, to calm her down, but what came out instead was, "You can't say that." His fingers curled under and dug into his palm. "You chose Tim. You can't say there's nothing wrong with me when you chose someone who is _everything_ I'm not capable of being."

"Because you rejected me!" Paige countered, her tone incredulous. "That's human nature, Walter. When someone hurts us, we run to the opposite end of the spectrum." She breathed out a humorless laugh. "That solved everything, didn't it?"

The genius opened his mouth and promptly shut it, momentarily stunned into silence. Objectively, he knew he'd pushed her away, driven her toward Tim, but…deep down, he hadn't thought he _could_ hurt her. Because that would mean she cared, as much as he did, or at least more than he let himself believe.

She was staring at her feet, refusing to meet his eyes just like she'd done after he found out about the breakup. There were so many things he needed to say and they all convalesced into one word, her name, and it seemed like she was about to look up when they were both distracted by the loud screech of a horn.

"Time to go. I need a beer," Cabe shouted out of his open window before his face contorted and he gave them a strange look. "It's hot as hell. Why are you both standing out here?"


	4. Protection

Cabe's timing was…less than impeccable.

The agent threw frequent glances to Walter in the rearview mirror, eyebrow raised, painfully aware of the tension that had infected the SUV. Paige didn't say a word on the hour-long ride back, and Cabe eventually gave up, cranking his radio to drown out the silence.

He declined to come into the garage, making up a thin excuse that Walter knew was just to give him and Paige some privacy. The genius shot Cabe an appreciative look before the agent peeled out of the alleyway. Toby, Happy, and Sylvester were at a Chinese restaurant down the street and the office was quiet, eerily so, as Paige's words rattled around in Walter's mind.

_You rejected me._

When she started dating the trainee, it almost seemed inevitable. Inevitable that she would find someone like Tim—successful, handsome, emotionally healthy—who would give her everything Walter couldn't. Inevitable that she would achieve happiness with a man better equipped for romantic relationships.

He'd sabotaged himself and sabotaged her, and maybe his low EQ was partially responsible. But maybe Paige was right, too, and it was a symptom of something else, of this fear that no matter what he did or how intensely he felt for her, she might never choose him. That she might not have a _reason_ to choose him, not when there would be a thousand better opportunities.

But what she'd said today, combined with the hurt he recognized in her features…maybe he was wrong.

Paige spun around suddenly, startling him, and Walter hadn't realized how closely he was following her to her desk. He knew she was only there to retrieve her purse and scrambled to find some way to resume their conversation before she left again.

"I'm taking a few days off," Paige said quietly, her eyes falling just over his shoulder because of their proximity. It was an objectively awkward position but he couldn't compel himself to move away, not when she was close enough that he could pull her against him and kiss her before her next words passed her lips. He was so distracted by the prospect that her statement took a moment to register. "If Homeland asks for our help, I'll come in."

His jaw clenched, a familiar dread washing over him at the prospect of spending time away from her. He'd just been trying to help and it still wasn't right, he brought up Tim and upset her, or overwhelmed her, and now she was distancing herself from him again. "Paige, I think we need to—."

"I know. I promise we will." She bit the inside of her lip, leaning back just enough to look up at him. "We can talk when I get back, but I just…I need to think first. Please."

Walter couldn't read her expression, but there was a current of uncertainty in her voice that shot straight through him and he nodded, desperate not to argue with her anymore. "Okay."

The genius didn't sleep that night. Or the next. When they finally did catch a case, three days later, Walter almost broke his phone in his haste to call her.

* * *

She didn't take pride or pleasure in hurting Walter.

It didn't seem to stop her, though. For everyone's benefit, Paige had been determined to repair her relationship with the genius. And then all it would take was a word, a trigger, a wound that hadn't healed, and both of them would shut down, right back at square one.

Disappearing wasn't an act of anger. If anything, she was mortified. Walter was hardly the first man to hurt her, but she'd never admitted as much. Even after Drew abandoned them, when she was screaming at him for being an irresponsible coward, Paige refused to bring her own pain into it. But amid all the tension and frustration, realizing that Walter _still_ had no idea how he'd affected her, it just slipped out, and there was no taking it back.

She respected him, the things he did in the field, his willingness to sacrifice himself for people he'd never even met. She was grateful for the second chance he gave her and Ralph. And she cared about him, deeply, as a friend, as a partner, as someone whose life was inextricably linked to hers. But he'd broken her heart and then stopped her from moving on, and if it was selfish and petty to hold on to that when it was clearly affecting other aspects of their relationship, well, she couldn't help it. She was human and it stung.

She thought the time off would help clear her head, refresh her perspective, but she felt more restless than anything. The few hours a day she spent with Ralph were great—she had doubled down on communicating with him and showing interest in his projects, with positive results—but when he was in school, or with friends, or holed up in his bedroom, the quiet annoyed her. Sometimes she forgot how much she'd grown accustomed to the chaos of the garage.

Cabe reached out, briefly, to ensure that the two of them were alright. The only other communication she received had been a surprise, as Tim e-mailed her to say hello and seek permission to stay in touch with Ralph. She granted it, trusting the young genius to set whatever boundaries he was comfortable with for that relationship. Even if Tim wasn't the right man for her, he'd always treated her son well, and she didn't see any harm in Ralph having a variety of influences in his life.

But that wasn't the voice she kept hoping to hear every time her phone buzzed, the face she kept wishing would be on the side of the door, and it was patently ridiculous to fixate on that when Walter was only complying with her request for space. If she wanted him there, she could ask and he would drop everything.

It was that simple, and yet it wasn't, it hadn't been for months.

Paige would have to return to work soon—she shuddered to think about the full inbox that awaited her—but things were going to be different now. There was no way she hadn't changed the dynamic of their relationship with her confession. He would have questions that she just wasn't sure how to answer.

When his name popped up on her caller ID around noon, Paige braced herself.

At least there would be a case to break the tension.

* * *

"Walter." She'd never heard her own voice like this, a grating high-pitched whine. "God, it hurts."

"I know. Paige, I know. Just breathe."

His voice was shaky, shakier than hers even though she was the one with the injury. Paige shut her eyes and focused on inhaling and exhaling steadily as Walter examined her shoulder. The light pressure he applied forced a sharp sound from her and he stiffened.

"It's just a dislocation. We can wait for medical attention but you'll be in a lot less pain if I pop it back in now. Paige, look at me." She complied, gritting her teeth as she tried to focus on him instead of her pulsing arm, which was decidedly not where it was supposed to be. "There are risks to me doing it myself but I can. I used to do it for Megan all the time. B-But only if you trust me to."

Paige could tell when Walter was putting on a brave face and he was now, controlling his features even as she saw the doubt pooling in his gaze. It wasn't a lack of confidence in his ability—if he'd done this before, the knowledge was still stored safely in his brain. It was her. He wasn't certain she trusted him to protect her anymore.

But not once had Walter O'Brien ever let her come to physical harm, and if he thought there was a chance now, he would never risk it. She nodded.

"Okay." He scooted to the side to make room. "Lay down."

Walter supported her with one hand and she winced as her back made contact with the cold concrete floor. This was not how she thought this day was going to go.

His fingers clasped around her left wrist. "Your arm needs to be at a ninety-degree angle, so—."

"Damn it, Walter," she growled to interrupt him. Nausea was already wracking her stomach and somehow she was sure that anticipating every move would make it worse. "I'm fine. Just do it."

"Oh, uh, okay." The genius maneuvered her injured arm into place away from her body and pulled, slowly but firmly, leaning back a few inches for traction. There was a loud _clunk_ when her shoulder slid back into its socket and Paige whimpered as the roaring pain faded into a more manageable dull throb. He scrambled to his knees, hovering over her, nothing but concern in his eyes now. "How does it feel?"

"Better. Better." The palm on her undamaged side dropped over her face and she concentrated on bringing her ragged breathing under control as stars floated behind her closed eyelids.

"We can't stay here. Other sections of the building might be unstable." Paige felt his hands slide beneath her shoulder blades and realized he'd moved to crouch by her head. She allowed him to guide her upward, to a seated position, and fumbled to support herself on her good arm as Walter shrugged out of his blue button-down and draped it over the injury, knotting it strategically to create a makeshift sling. "Keep your arm as immobile as possible. It's the best we can do until you see a doctor."

Without the pain, Paige could think clearly again and that clarity was accompanied by a surge of panic. She grabbed for Walter, her fingers curling around the first thing they came into contact with, his undershirt. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

She'd shoved him out of the way when a chunk of concrete fell from the stadium's third-floor ceiling before losing her balance and plummeting down a flight of stairs. Walter had sprinted toward her more quickly than she thought any human was capable of moving, but that didn't mean he wasn't hiding his own wounds from her.

The genius's eyes flashed and it wasn't difficult to read the guilt. "Just a few abrasions. I'm fine," he answered tersely, snaking an arm around her and helping her to her feet. "Let's go. I don't want to put you at any more risk."

She nearly rolled her eyes at his petulant tone. He couldn't logically blame himself for the circumstances, but he would find a way.

"Oh God," she gasped. Her ankle gave out as soon as she stood on it and she stumbled, clutching Walter's shoulder at the same time his other arm joined the first to steady her. Paige held onto him for support as she straightened up, trying to distribute her weight evenly. It would hurt, but she could walk. "I'm okay. We just have to go slow."

Walter nodded and eased one of her arms around his shoulders, behind his neck, before tightening his grip on her waist. It helped that they were nearly the same height and neither had to stretch too far to reach the other. Every bruise and ache was making itself known now, no longer drowned out by the pain of her shoulder, and she found herself leaning harder against him as a wave of dizziness crashed into her.

He was bearing too much of her weight, he wouldn't make it to the entrance supporting her like this, he would have to leave her there and bring back help, she didn't want him to leave her, what if something happened to him or to her while they were separated, _what if…?_

Walter flexed his fingers into her side, a silent reassurance that he had her, like he could hear her racing thoughts. Paige tilted her head to look at him, the intensity with which he met her eyes making her lightheaded in an entirely different way.

She swallowed. "Thank you."


	5. Clean Slate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story is probably going to be about eight chapters. If you're enjoying it, let me know! Reviews make me write faster. ;) Happy Scorpion day!

He loved her.

The way he looked at her when he was half-carrying her out of the stadium confirmed it. She supposed it wasn't much different than any other time she had been injured on a mission, but now that she'd heard the words, now that she knew he could name and accept that feeling, Paige saw it written all over his face.

She traced her finger along the edge of her sling. Walter's shirt had been replaced with a real one while the team sat patiently in the waiting room, even though she insisted they didn't all need to be there. The doctor commended Walter's treatment of her shoulder, but the genius merely grunted his acknowledgement, hardly making eye contact with her or anyone else. Today had just been too much. He was overwhelmed—by the case, by her fall, by his own nearly fatal experience, she wasn't sure. Maybe all of it. Paige sent Toby and Happy to pick up Ralph and keep him occupied for the evening, and alternated between resting and filling out forms—her right hand was still functional, after all—for a few hours to give Walter time to unwind.

Paige brewed coffee for them, sprinkling cinnamon into the pot. She wasn't sure, after all this time, if Walter actually enjoyed the taste or had merely adapted to it. Her waitressing talents came into play as she balanced both handles in one hand and walked slowly up the stairs to avoid spilling the liquid on herself.

A smile tugged at her lips as she approached the doorway, her presence unnoticed. Ferret Bueller was curled up on Walter's shoulder, nose pressed into his neck, as the genius flipped through a book about robotics. The animal was chattering softly in his sleep and Walter seemed unperturbed by the noise, almost calmed by it.

"Hey," she said quietly so as not to startle him.

"Paige?" He ducked away from the ferret, who immediately protested, and hurried to meet her at the door, taking both cups from her. "You shouldn't overtax your other arm. Too much activity will strain your muscles."

"I'll be careful." Her tone was light, but his concern secretly touched her. No matter how tense things were between them, no matter how much they struggled to understand each other, Walter never failed to look after her physical safety. He was always protecting her, and when the situation arose, she hadn't hesitated to do the same for him. "Are you busy?"

He obviously wasn't, but she still felt a little relieved when he shook his head.

"Then maybe we can talk. I, uh, I promised we would." Paige offered him a weak smile and pointed to her sling. "And I think you earned as much."

Walter's eyes darkened instantly and he turned away from her, leaning down to rest the blue mugs on the table near where he'd been sitting. "I'm the reason you got hurt."

"Actually, corrupt contractors and a massive inspection scheme are the reason I got hurt," she joked to lighten the mood, but the genius was unamused. For someone who regularly risked himself to protect others, he sure hated having someone return the favor. Especially her. "Just this once, Walter, let yourself off the hook. I'm okay."

His lips remained pressed in a tight line, but he nodded and returned to the couch, motioning for her to sit down. She joined him and for several long minutes, they drank coffee in silence.

"It didn't used to be this hard for us to talk," Paige murmured, tracing her finger around the rim of her cup as it balanced on her lap. "I used to know exactly what to say to you."

Walter glanced sideways at her before staring back down at his hands. "I don't think the same was true for me."

The liaison huffed out a laugh and he eased slightly. He wasn't quite smiling, but it was close. She couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled around her.

They had problems, and they were going to keep blowing up at each other until those issues were resolved, but for the life of her, Paige wasn't sure where to start. The conversation lapsed again, the quiet punctuated only by Ferret Bueller's sounds of contentment as he burrowed between the couch and Walter's back.

Paige was surprised when the genius spoke. "I don't trust many people," he said seriously, though it wasn't exactly a mind-blowing revelation. "I need us to be friends again. Please. Whatever t-that takes, I'll do it."

It was the _please_ that made her feel like she was going to shatter. She pushed the cup away and angled herself on the couch to face him, wincing as her bad arm shifted and she jolted from the pain. Concern filled his eyes but she held up her hand to signify that she was okay before drawing in a deep breath. "Walter, I know I…I've snapped at you, and I know I threatened to end our friendship, but that isn't what I want. I was angry and frustrated, and in some ways I still am, but that doesn't overshadow everything you've done for me and Ralph. It doesn't change the fact that you're important to me."

She saw Walter stiffen and knew her words had triggered the same memory in his mind. The day she'd come so close to losing him. _Think about…how important you are to me._

If Cabe hadn't interrupted, then, things may have been very different.

"Ralph said I don't understand the team like I used to," Paige said in a rush, realizing that if she didn't keep talking, she might be tempted to finish what she'd started that night. "Sometimes I forget. That you think differently and you'll never really act the way I expect you to. But it's my job to understand. I know I don't always get it right, but I am trying."

His gaze was too strong and she looked away, unable to meet it, but there was noticeably less strain in his voice when he said, "Most people don't try as hard as you did."

"Most people don't realize it's worth it," Paige replied with a soft smile. Suddenly a little restless, she dropped her fingers to her knee and traced a circular pattern on her jeans, still not looking up. "I didn't mean everything I said in the desert. At least not the way I said it. But I wasn't lying when I said there's nothing wrong with who you are. Any of you."

"Thank you," he muttered faintly. "T-Though I don't know if I agree with you. I badly mishandled the situation with Tim. I hurt you."

Paige hesitated, considering her next words. This was a sore subject and she didn't want to put up the wall between them again. "Yes," she finally admitted, figuring she'd already blurted it out once and there was no point in avoiding the truth of it now. "I'm hurt that you went behind my back. I'm hurt that you sabotaged me when you could have just talked to me about what was bothering you. I would have listened."

Walter dropped his head forward into his hands, running them through his hair and leaving them clasped at the base of his neck. He looked tired. She knew this conversation was draining him, but they couldn't put it off any longer or they'd kill each other. "Paige?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you and Tim break up?" She froze, startled by the question, and he sighed, meeting her eyes straight on. "If it's not my right to know, I understand. But you said it was for Ralph and I just want to make sure that…t-that Tim didn't do anything…"

"No!" Paige answered quickly, imagining what terrible scenarios Walter could be conjuring. She wondered how long he'd been concerned. "No. Tim was good to Ralph. It was…" The liaison paused. Walter was right; he had no claim to this information, but his concern for the young genius struck a familiar chord in her. "Like I said, um, Ralph felt that I didn't understand or…or enjoy being around you guys anymore. He was including himself in that. Something about my relationship with Tim made me view things differently. And I've already fought so hard to connect with my son. I couldn't stand the idea of Ralph thinking that I don't want him to be different. That I don't love him for everything he is. So I did what I had to."

Walter was quiet for a long time, absorbing her answer. "And are you really…fine?"

_Fine._ The exact word she'd used in the desert. The same word she always gave Walter hell for. "Yes. The timing was just off, I guess."

_Maybe if I'd met him four years ago._

Paige didn't really miss Tim, per se. But she still thought about him, frequently, because their breakup made her wonder if she would ever move on. If she was capable of it. Was Veronica right, and she wasn't cut out for a normal relationship? Maybe she wasn't cut out for any relationship. Maybe taking care of Ralph was supposed to be her only focus.

She tamped down her thoughts and turned her attention back to Walter. "I don't want to keep rehashing the same things. We've both messed up and we're both sorry." He nodded hastily, seeming relieved not to have to stumble through a formal apology. "We had something great. You, me, and Ralph. Before we complicated it. So I think we should just go back to that and let go of everything else."

The liaison almost chuckled when she realized how much she sounded like Walter. Everything moved smoothly when they were friends. Colleagues. They worked together, mentored Ralph together, confided in and relied on each other. And then their feelings ruined everything.

She'd never truly subscribed to his belief that romantic relationships among the team were a mistake. But she was starting to see the wisdom in it now, when they were at each other's throats constantly.

Walter met her eyes, his face impassive. "Is that what you want?"

Paige knew what he was asking.

_Of course it's not._

She wanted so much more than his friendship. But every time they got close, they destroyed each other. She couldn't let that happen again. Maybe they were sacrificing something great for something good, but it was better than losing the good altogether.

Paige reached out to rest her hand over his. They'd both received comfort from the gesture before, and that was all she meant it to be. But when Walter flipped his palm and wrapped his fingers around hers, tentatively drifting them over her skin, the sensation that seared through her was anything but comforting.

She slid out of his grasp, averting her eyes so she wouldn't see his reaction, and stood up, leaving her coffee abandoned on the table. "I'll see you in the morning, Walter."

* * *

"More peanut butter, please."

Walter paused, knitting his eyebrows. "You're not watching me. How do you know how much peanut butter I'm using?"

Ralph caught the tennis ball he was throwing as it ricocheted off the wall and bounced back to him. "You never use enough. Your ratio of peanut butter to jelly is off-putting."

"Noted." Walter smirked and dipped the knife back into the jar of peanut butter, slathering the extra on two pieces of wheat bread. Now that he and Paige had reached a truce, he was more comfortable offering to watch Ralph when she had other obligations. It was hardly a chore. Walter was fascinated and often a bit humbled by the young genius.

He handed the plate to Ralph and took the tennis ball in exchange, dropping down onto the couch and launching it toward the brick wall. Walter found the activity to be effective stress relief, with minimal injury and property damage.

"Better," Ralph mumbled as he wiped a spot of jelly off his lips with a napkin. "You fixed it."

"The sandwich?"

"No. Whatever was going on with you and my mom." Walter smiled, long accustomed to Ralph's sudden changes in thought. The young genius brushed crumbs off his hand onto the plate. "She doesn't seem mad at you anymore."

Paige still wasn't quite as…comfortable as she'd been around him in the past. Walter knew there was more to work through. But the tension between them was dissipating every day.

He hated that Ralph had ever been stuck in the middle of it, though.

"Yeah. We hit a rough patch. But…" Walter searched for something reassuring to say. "But we'll always be a team. You, me, and your mom."

Ralph rolled his eyes. "Until the next Tim comes along."

Walter tensed. He'd barely recovered from the first Tim, and he certainly had not been thinking about the next man that Paige would bring to the garage. But he was now, and the idea was…unpleasant. "W-Whatever your mom chooses to do in her personal life, I know she'll make sure you're happy with it. That's the most important thing to her."

The boy picked at his sandwich, letting sections of crust fall randomly. "We're good as a team but we could be more. That's what you want, isn't it?"

_Of course it is._

Ralph had never been shy about his desire for the three of them to be a family. And Walter wanted that too. God, he wanted that. But Paige was clear that their boundaries ended at friendship and he needed to respect her decision. He'd lost his chance at anything else years ago.

"We are more, Ralph. No matter what happens, y-you and I are family. You know that, right?"

There was no hesitation in his statement. He had known it was true from the day he met Ralph. The way he and the young genius connected went far beyond any family connection he'd known, even beyond what he had with Megan.

"I know," Ralph sighed, sounding a little petulant though Walter could tell he meant it. "Just like I know that my dad and I are family, and my mom and I are family. But we're not a family together." He glanced over at his mentor. "That's not what I want with you."

Walter tried to control his shaky breathing. He didn't want Ralph to see how much those words affected him.

_A family. Together._

For thirty years, Walter was adamant that wasn't what he wanted from life. Maybe if he'd accepted his feelings earlier, he would already have it. "I'm such a moron," he muttered under his breath.

"Yep." Walter frowned and Ralph shrugged, taking another bite of his sandwich. "What? I'm agreeing with you."


	6. Holding On

What made Paige think she could do this?

She and Walter hadn't fought in over a month. As grateful as she was for that reprieve—and for the corresponding improvement in Ralph's mood—she was losing control. She could feel it. Without the haze of anger, Paige saw how hard the genius was trying. It was in every cup of coffee he brought her. Every smile he shot her from his desk. Every time he shielded her instinctively during a case. Every moment he looked at Ralph like her son was the center of the universe.

Those were the little things that made her fall for him once, and she had the worst hunch that it was happening again.

Maybe her feelings had never changed, not really, but without Tim Armstrong's pleasant, constant distraction, there was nothing left for Paige to hide behind. Nothing to stop her from dreaming of Walter, from flushing under his gaze, from thinking about his hand on hers and how sensitive she was to his touch, even after all they had been through.

But she'd pushed to stay friends for a reason and it wasn't because she enjoyed torturing herself. She wanted more because things were good, but things were only good because they were setting their emotions aside. That was the best thing for her, for Ralph, and for Walter. The logical solution. They couldn't have everything, but they could get close, if she just stopped being so selfish.

"Are you gonna zip me up or do I have to call in Sly to do it?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and refocused on Happy, who was staring expectantly over her shoulder at the liaison with one eyebrow raised. Paige tugged on the zipper and pulled it closed, careful not to snag the dark blue fabric. She had never pegged Happy as a white gown kind of girl, and wasn't surprised when the bride opted for a simple floor-length dress with an exposed zipper in the back. _I don't wear anything that doesn't have hardware,_ she'd said.

"What's your deal, Dineen? You look like you'd rather be getting tortured." Happy grabbed the top of the dress and wiggled to pull it higher over her chest. "I thought this stuff was what you lived for."

Paige smirked. She never thought the phrase _always a bridesmaid_ would apply to her, but if she was doing this for anyone, she was glad it was the mechanic. Happy and Toby were going to last. It wasn't hard to see how ridiculously devoted they were to each other, even before they were really together.

"I'm fine. Just a lot of details on my mind, that's all."

"Nope," Happy countered, turning around to face her. "Your tension is making me tense and only one of us can be in crisis mode right now. That person is obviously me."

Paige dropped her eyes, embarrassed. Her head should have been on making this the perfect day for her friends, not on a problem she was creating for herself. She picked up Cabe's pin from the vanity and lifted the dress away from Happy's waist so she could attach it without stabbing the other woman.

"I'm really happy for you," she deflected as she secured the pin and smoothed the fabric back into place. "And proud of you. For opening up. I know one day you'll have the family you always wanted."

Happy was quiet and Paige knew she'd treaded on sensitive territory. But Happy was never one to accept defeat, and she and Toby wouldn't stop trying until they had a few little Quintises terrorizing the garage.

"You're very sappy today," the mechanic noted pointedly.

"Everyone's sappy at weddings."

"Are you moping about Walt again?"

Paige halted as she was reaching for Happy's heels. She didn't know why she was surprised. The geniuses were frustratingly good at connecting the dots and Happy had learned a few too many tricks from being around the psychologist. _That doesn't matter, this is your day, I'm going to shut up now._

But her next words just slipped out unencumbered. "How does Toby make it work? With you?" She winced, realizing how much that sounded like a backhanded insult. "Sorry. That came out wrong."

Happy huffed out a laugh. "No it didn't." She angled toward the mirror again, blinking her eyes and dusting off the speck of mascara that fell onto her cheek. "The doc was an idiot to pick me. We don't always understand each other and we never deal with things the same way. My marriage to Walter, the non-starter pregnancy…" The mechanic shrugged. "But you push through. You push through the stuff that sucks so you can get back to the good part."

Paige crossed her arms, careful not to rumple the bodice of her own dress. "It's hard. With Walter. There's so much baggage and we're so different—."

"Come on, Paige. It's always hard. If it isn't, you're not that serious." She grabbed for a can of spray to smooth back a strand of unruly hair. "It's like working for Scorpion, right? Sometimes it's rough and our lives are in danger, no one appreciates what we do, and we just want to give up. But we're still here. Because when it's good, it's worth it." Seemingly satisfied, she patted her waves and met Paige's eyes in the mirror. "You and Walt are never going to be perfect. But if something makes you happy more often than not, then statistically, it's worth doing."

The liaison's lips curved. Everything came down to facts for them. They felt fear—even Walter, who swore he was immune to it—but they always trusted the odds, for better or worse. She wished she could be that…logical.

Paige checked her phone and felt a small spark of relief that she would be saved from answering for the moment. "Alright, Hap. Time to get hitched."

* * *

"Hey, mom." Paige grinned when she spotted Ralph bounding toward her, painfully adorable in his suit. She'd barely seen him the whole reception—too busy grilling Toby's psychologist friends, she suspected—but now that the crowd was starting to thin out, she thought they might be able to spend some time together. Maybe she could even cajole him into dancing. "Walter needs your help with something," he said when he reached her.

Paige's smile faded slightly. She'd exchanged even fewer words with the genius, who had been regularly disappearing throughout the night to help out behind the scenes. When he _was_ around, he always seemed to be on the opposite side of the room from wherever she was.

He was out of his element and Paige knew she should be by his side, helping him navigate, but it was difficult to think when Happy's words were still pounding in her head.

"Uh, okay." Ralph pointed to Walter, who was standing by the entrance. She fiddled nervously with the asymmetrical strap on her dress and took a deep breath before making her way toward him.

When had she gotten so nervous around Walter? Granted, seeing him in a suit always made her heart stutter. His hands were stuffed in his pockets and he was staring out into space, no doubt lost in his own brain. If Toby was an idiot for picking Happy, then she was certainly an idiot for falling for Walter. He was stubborn, arrogant, and aggravating, but right now, all Paige could think about was how gorgeous he looked.

"Hey." She slapped on a friendly smile to mask her anxiety as she came to a stop next to him. Walter glanced over at her in surprise, as if he wasn't sure she was really standing there—not unusual when she pulled him out of his thoughts. "Ralph said you asked for my help?"

The genius furrowed his eyebrows. "No. I haven't talked to him in hours."

"Oh." Her voice was equal parts disappointment and annoyance with her son, who was once again nowhere to be found. She knew full well what Ralph's plan had been, but she played it off. "Maybe I misunderstood him."

Neither of them moved for a few seconds, and then Walter turned to her, one hand coming out of his pocket to scratch the back of his neck. "Do you want to dance?" Paige froze, thoroughly unprepared for the offer, and the genius shifted his weight awkwardly. "I don't know this song, but…"

"Yes," she said quickly, cringing at her overeagerness. But this was Walter. She didn't need be smooth or play games to keep him interested. Paige drew in another breath to relax. "I'm sure you'll pick it up."

Walter nodded and Paige followed as he stepped into the main area, staying near the edge of the dance floor. There were still plenty of couples in the reception hall and they blended in easily among the guests as his right hand grasped hers and his left hand dropped to the curve of her back, landing on the precise spot she'd showed him. Paige didn't recognize the song either but they fell in sync quickly. Walter clearly hadn't forgotten a thing since their first dance.

"I'm sorry about Ralph," she murmured. Walter didn't have to ask what she meant. This wasn't the first time he plotted to get them all in the same room and then made a hasty excuse to leave or simply disappeared. It was happening more and more frequently and Paige knew she was going to have to address his interference.

Walter sighed, but he seemed amused. "Side effect of being a genius. You start to think you can control everything."

"Hmm. I hadn't noticed," she answered, quirking her lips so he would know she was teasing.

His expression grew serious again and he tightened his grip on her, so imperceptibly she wondered if she was imagining it. "Ralph told me once that I should have taken you dancing. When you went to the veteran's ball." Paige swallowed as she thought back to that night, being in Tim's arms, knowing something wasn't right but fighting her instincts. She didn't feel that way now. "I guess he's helping me make up for that oversight."

A shiver traveled down Paige's spine and she wondered if Walter could feel it. If he could hear her heartbeat, which suddenly sounded very loud in her ears. "He's not good at minding his own business," she said a little more breathlessly than she'd intended.

Walter's eyes darkened, making it even harder for Paige to catch her breath, and his palm slid lower on her back as her fingers curled around his shoulder. This was escalating quickly, months or years of suppressed attraction bubbling to the surface at once, and whatever boundaries she had been imposing on their relationship clearly went out the window as soon as she agreed to dance with him. "He just knows what he wants," the genius said quietly, and Paige's head was spinning too much to decipher whether he was still speaking about Ralph or not.

His breath was hot on her neck and Paige wondered if Walter had pulled her closer or if she'd been the one to lessen the distance. "And w-what does he want?" she managed, stepping forward so he wouldn't see her eyes slip shut. This was dangerous, but maybe it was time to take Happy's advice. Maybe she could handle being hurt by Walter again if everything else would feel this good.

"He wants a family." There was no uncertainty in the words and Paige's knees almost buckled when she realized that he was talking about himself as much as Ralph. She forced herself to pull back and look at him, trying to memorize the emotion in his eyes, sliding her palm up to the base of his neck to encourage him. "Paige, I…"

And then, as if someone had flipped a switch, Walter stiffened and his expression turned to stone. His hands dropped to his sides and he took a step backward, leaving Paige feeling cold and exposed.

"Excuse me," he said through gritted teeth before spinning on his heel and walking straight out of the room. Paige blinked, stunned by the sudden change. Of course he would be overwhelmed, they were so close, he was so close to—.

_To saying how he felt. The dancing, the clothes…_

They couldn't have recreated the conditions any better if she was holding a plate of Baked Alaska.

_He remembers._


	7. Where

It took Paige twenty minutes to find him in the men's bathroom, knuckles white from gripping the edge of the sink, breaths coming out in rough gasps. His first instinct had been to leave, but Paige and Ralph would be disappointed if he put himself in danger again by driving when he was emotional. Walter calculated that this was the one place in the reception hall he could avoid Paige's detection, but he'd clearly failed to take her persistence into account.

Another guest came out of the third stall and froze on seeing the liaison. "Get out," she snapped, glaring at the confused man until he ducked out of the bathroom. "Walter?"

The genius shut his eyes and pressed his lips together, breathing through his nose. He could feel her presence near him but he wasn't sure how he would react if he looked at her right now. "Paige, I need a minute."

"I know. And I'll give you all the time in the world but I just need to know that you're okay." He heard her shift closer, still mercifully leaving a measure of distance between them. "You remembered, didn't you? About the rocket."

Walter was prepared to apologize, unsure if she had any idea why he abandoned her so suddenly. But she did. Paige had been practically melting against him, and he thought she wanted him to say those words he'd been aching to express for months. _I love you_.

But somehow he knew he had already said them. "So you were there."

"Well, not _there_ , but yeah, I was talking to you." There was a long pause before Paige sighed. "I'm so sorry, Walter. I just wanted you to come home. And t-then I thought I was protecting you by not saying anything."

He wanted to ask what she meant but he was on overload, his brain a chaotic mess of memories and emotions that he didn't have a name for and couldn't categorize. Whatever Paige wanted from him, she wasn't going to get it tonight.

"Walter," she breathed and he tensed, the sensation of hearing his name like that just one more thing he struggled to process. "Walter, it's okay if you're angry. Or embarrassed. But you don't need to be. I was the only one that heard and I—."

"I'm not angry," he forced out, shocked he could still speak when there was no air left in his lungs. "Or embarrassed."

Paige swallowed. "You're not?"

Walter sucked in a breath and loosened his grip on the counter because his hands were starting to go numb. "There's nothing embarrassing about stating facts." His eyes opened and even viewing her in his peripheral vision was too overwhelming, so he kept his gaze down. Part of him just wanted her to leave, but a bigger part wanted her to understand. Because as much as he still needed time to comprehend this, the truth was that he knew why it was affecting him so acutely. "I, uh, I've been holding on to that for a long time. Since Tahoe, but…but probably before. No matter how bad it was between us, I always thought that one day I would tell you and m-maybe it would fix things somehow. That if you knew, you would let me make up for everything I did to hurt you." He dropped his head. "But I did say it. And it didn't fix things. It made everything worse. So. Now I know."

She hadn't brought it up because she would reject him, because she'd already chosen Tim, because it wasn't enough. And Walter had been so stupid, ready to blurt it out again, believing that they might _finally_ want the same thing.

"That's not true," Paige whispered, sounding close to tears.

"D-Don't try to spare my feelings. The opportunity for that is…long gone."

The door pushed open and one of Toby's college friends glanced between them before turning around and heading back out. Walter capitalized on the distraction to make his exit, but Paige grabbed his arm. "Walter, I…" She looked up at him and the genius struggled to return the gesture, because if he let himself acknowledge her distress then it wouldn't be easy to walk away from her. "I'm not sure what to say right now. And I know you need to deal with this in your own way. But please tell me we can talk about it soon. Please don't shut me out."

He extricated himself from her grip. Her touch, which usually brought him comfort, was burning a hole through his skin.

"Please," she begged softly, her eyes shining. "Tomorrow?"

Walter didn't think he would be ready to talk about this tomorrow. He wasn't sure he would ever be ready to talk about this. "I don't know."

He was well aware that wasn't the answer she was looking for, but when he stepped around her and left the bathroom, she didn't follow him.

* * *

_I'm not sure what to say right now?_

How about _I love you too?_ How about _hearing those words from you changed everything?_ How about _I don't want you to walk away from me, ever?_

In hindsight, Paige could think up a thousand better responses. Letting Walter go was heartbreaking, but she hoped that he might calm down with some time and space to process. And he'd just looked so defeated. She didn't want the first time she told him she loved him—when they were both fully cognizant, at least—to be like that.

Cabe had driven Walter home that night and while Paige wanted nothing more than collapse into a sobbing heap, she'd already been away from Ralph for too long. She fixed her makeup as best she could, took a few deep breaths to bring her emotions under control, and then pasted on a bright smile as she walked back into the reception hall.

She expected the hours of cleaning with Ralph, Sylvester, and a returned Cabe to exhaust her, but Paige couldn't sleep. The tightness in her chest didn't allow her to breathe laying down so she propped herself up against her pillows, half paying attention to a movie on TV and half staring at the ceiling, blinking back tears.

Paige didn't know if Walter would ever look at her the same way. His confession in space _had_ altered things, whatever he believed, and it scared her. She'd thrown herself into her relationship with Tim, because it was comfortable and safe and if he was constantly in front of her then she didn't have to see the longing in Walter's eyes. She didn't have to admit to herself that she was giving up on something she wanted because being abandoned again was the worst prospect she could consider.

But this, now, this was the worst prospect. Losing Walter. Hurting someone who cared about her so deeply. Letting him believe that he wasn't enough for her. He had his faults. But he was incredible and rare in other ways he didn't even recognize.

Even if they couldn't fix this, he had to know that.

* * *

"Walter…" Paige sighed and closed her eyes, tipping her head back against the couch. This was her…seventh?...message and she was she running out of things to say. "Walter, I'm at the garage. I understand if you don't want to talk but please, just text me to let me know you're safe. Okay? I'm worried."

She hesitated before ending the call. He should have been back by now. Paige had showed up at the garage at ten a.m., her hair a messier version of her waves from the night before and her makeup barely covering the dark circles under her eyes. Walter was long gone—if he'd ever come home—and Paige decided to wait. But it was dark now and he wasn't responding to any of her messages. What if he was hanging off the side of a cliff again? Or worse?

She couldn't think about that.

"Paige?"

The liaison started at the familiar voice and bolted off the couch toward the stairs. "Cabe? Cabe, I need you to call Walter. I'm afraid that he's done something reckless. He hasn't been here all day."

"I know. I came to check on him and I saw your car…" He paused when Paige came to a stop in front of him, his eyes filling with concern. "Walt wouldn't tell me what happened last night but you don't look a whole lot better than he did. Are you okay?"

Paige dragged her hand through her hair, brushing the loose strands away from her face. "I'll be okay when I know where Walter is." She hated how desperate she sounded. "Can you please call him?"

The agent pressed his lips together and Paige knew he was preparing her for bad news. _Please, Walter, just be safe._ "I've been calling him all day. He told me he was taking a private job but I didn't get any details. Figured he'd get in touch when he was done, but…"

"Cabe, he remembered. About space. You saw how he was. I tried to give him time, but if he's putting himself in danger, we need to know."

_I need to know. Ralph and I can't go through this again._

The older man shot her a sympathetic look and rubbed her upper arm. "Happy and Toby haven't left for their honeymoon yet. I'll give them a call and ask if they've heard anything. Sly and I will see if we can find out who Walter's client was."

"I'll help," she offered quickly, glancing around the garage for her purse. "I'll tell the babysitter to stay with Ralph and—."

"No, kid." Cabe shook his head when Paige opened her mouth to protest. "You've barely slept. Have the sitter bring Ralph here and the two of you can wait in case he comes home."

Walter had to come home. Paige refused to entertain any other possibility. He had to come home so she could kill him and then tell him what she should have told him the second he recovered from the rocket incident. "Cabe," she said weakly, biting her lip to keep her voice from breaking.

Was this how it was going to be? Was she going to have to fear for his life every time they fought?

The agent saw her struggling to keep it together and moved closer, placing his hands on her shoulders and bending down to look her in the eye. "Hey. We don't even know if anything's wrong yet." He released a deep breath and she followed instinctively, feeling her heart rate slow. "And if there is, then it's Walter. No one gets out of impossible situations better than he does. He'll be walking through that door before you know it."

Paige nodded. Walter was hurt, and maybe he didn't trust her anymore. But if something _was_ wrong, she hoped that deep down, his love for her and Ralph would still be enough to get him back where he belonged.


	8. Lost and Found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the support!

Three days.

Walter had disappeared before, but not like this. Never like this.

The fact that no one had found him yet was ironically reassuring. Walter could stay off the grid if he wanted, but if he was seriously injured or…or in another condition that she really couldn't consider, _someone_ would have stumbled across him.

But even if he'd been laying low, even if he couldn't face her or the team right now, he wouldn't let them worry. He would pick up his phone, send an e-mail, a text message, _anything_. For Ralph's benefit, at least, if not for hers.

_Where the hell are you, Walter?_

She was an affectionate person by nature, physically and verbally, and Paige always thought that if something happened to her or someone she loved, she would have no regrets. After all, she had a dangerous job, and risk was inevitable. When Walter was rescued from that cliff, when she'd gotten a second chance to apologize for their fight, Paige swore to herself that she would never repeat that mistake.

But she did. And if she never saw Walter again, she would have to live knowing that in the end, he hadn't known she loved him. Actually, it was worse that. He actively believed that she didn't.

"Mom, you need to eat."

Paige looked down at her bowl of soup, which she was mindlessly turning over with a spoon but had yet to actually taste. She'd been keeping it together for Ralph, albeit with all the power of a loose thread holding together a sweater. If she was being honest, it was her son who seemed to be giving her strength and comfort, not the other way around.

She swallowed a spoonful of the liquid to pacify him, even though she wasn't hungry. Everything she ate just exacerbated her nausea and Paige could tell by the way her clothes hung from her frame that she'd already lost a few pounds. Ralph, on the other hand, had neatly polished off his bowl and placed it on the table in front of them. He burped softly and Paige smiled in spite of herself. "Nice one."

"Thank you," he answered with a hint of pride. _Boys._ "Finish the soup, mom. And the water. You're dehydrated."

He was probably right, especially considering how much she'd been crying while he slept. No matter how hard she tried to hide her distress, Ralph knew. Toby had been teaching him about behavioral markers of grief, guilt, and fear for years. "I will, honey. I'm sorry. I'm just distracted."

"I know you're scared, mom, but Walter's coming back," Ralph said with conviction, turning on the couch to face her and tucking his legs under. "He's been in approximately forty-seven life-threatening situations. Of those, he's only sustained significant injuries five times, and he has a 100% survival rate. He's coming back."

So that was how her son had stayed calm and optimistic while Paige was falling apart. Statistics were the best way he knew how to understand the world, and if they gave him hope, she supposed she was grateful.

But they weren't quite as persuasive to her, and Ralph clearly understood that, because he cocked his head and said, "Just have faith in him, mom."

_Faith._ She trusted Walter with her life and the life of her son. There was no greater faith than that, not for her. Paige hoped that wherever he was, he was fighting for himself as much as he fought for them.

"Ralph?" she said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Are you…unhappy?" He looked at her curiously. "Not right now. Obviously. Um, I meant with the way things are. With the two of us."

The young genius scrunched his forehead. "I don't understand."

_Of course you don't, because I'm not making any sense._ Paige studied her son, taken back once again by how much he often looked and sounded like his mentor. "Walter told me that you wanted a family. I know…" Her vision started to blur as tears collected in her eyes. "I know things haven't always been easy for us. And I know that a family is not something I can promise you, but I would do anything for you, Ralph. If you're unhappy, t-then please tell me, and I'll do whatever I can to fix it…"

She swallowed, her voice embarrassingly choked and shaky, and she watched his shoulders slump as he finally understood what she meant.

"I'm not unhappy," Ralph said quietly, looking down at his hands as they tangled in his lap. "I didn't say that because our life isn't good. It is. And no one else can _make_ us feel like a family. We already are. I just wanted Walter to be a part of it."

Paige used both of her palms to clear the moisture from her eyes. After breaking up with Tim, she vowed that she would wait for the person who could make both her and her son happy. Maybe she'd always suspected that Walter was that person, but she had no doubts anymore.

"Me too," she murmured as she moved closer to Ralph and put her arms around him, pressing a kiss to the side of his head.

Walter had to come home.

* * *

_Mom, it's Cabe._

Two hours had passed since Ralph shook Paige awake, her cell phone in his hand, and she was very nearly unable to answer when Cabe confirmed that they'd found Walter, alive and unharmed. They had a long drive back and every second dragged on excruciatingly as Paige took a shower and changed, made a breakfast that she was too nervous to eat, and cleaned up the evidence of her and Ralph's stay in the loft.

She was still up there when she heard the door open and the young genius beat her to the lower level by a mile, racing down the stairs with a wide grin on his face. Paige caught up just in time to see Ralph barrel into Walter, who returned the embrace with an equally beaming smile. "Hey, buddy. It's good to see you."

"I knew you would be okay," Ralph insisted as he pulled back and looked up at his mentor. "I told mom."

Walter glanced around the garage until his eyes latched onto hers. Paige didn't move, temporarily overwhelmed and fixated on the single bruise just above his left cheekbone. Words seem to be flying out of her grasp and she wondered if this was how the genius felt on a regular basis.

"Hey, kid," Cabe said to break the silence, glancing between Paige and Walter. "I'm gonna go pick up some dinner, why don't you come with me?"

Ralph glanced at Paige for approval and she nodded. They ducked out of the garage, murmuring to each other, and then everything was quiet.

" _God_ , Walter," she sighed.

He rocked on his heels, hands pushed deep into his pockets. "I'm alright, Paige. Really."

_No, you're not alright. You were missing for four days. Do you know how many times I thought you were dead?_ But it didn't seem right to yell at him for getting kidnapped, so she motioned to the area on her face equivalent to where his injury was and asked, "Is that from them?"

"Yeah. Just a warning."

Her blood boiled. Walter hadn't lied when he told Cabe that he was taking on a private job, but as self-destructive as he tended to be, she was pretty sure he would have passed if he'd known that the "client" was actually a group of anarchists who needed his hacking skills to bring down the systems of five international banks.

Happy and Toby had delayed their honeymoon to help Cabe and Sly search, while Paige read all of Walter's notes in the office and Ralph used his skills to break through the genius's encryption and access his computer files. But they'd kept coming up empty, and if Walter hadn't managed to sneak out a message inside lines of code, Scorpion might not have found him at all.

"I'm fine," Walter said firmly, noting her clenched jaw. "They were criminals, but they weren't killers. I wasn't in any real danger."

"The hell you weren't."

"Paige…" He stopped, scanning her up and down as if he was only now seeing her. Even with the shower and makeup, she was well aware of how thin and tired she looked. His eyebrows furrowed. "Are you okay?"

_Of course I'm not okay. I've barely eaten or slept or had a second of peace in half a week._ The liaison laughed bitingly and shrugged. "I don't know, Walter. How would you feel if I was missing for four days?"

He pressed his lips together and Paige knew she'd made her point.

"I'm sorry," he murmured as his eyes went to the floor.

The words dropped on her like a hammer. Walter had nothing to apologize for and she wasn't even angry at him, but that didn't stop her from taking it out on him because there was no other outlet for all of her heartache and frustration and _need_.

Unless there was.

Paige closed the space in a few steps and curled her palm around the base of his neck before pulling him down to kiss her. The heat from his body was almost overwhelming and he tasted like mint and she pressed harder against him, desperate for a closeness that wasn't physically possible, desperate to keep her with him. Walter reacted instinctively, matching her force, but her low moan when his fingers dug into her hips broke him out of his daze.

The genius tore his lips away and stumbled back slightly, his chest rising and falling noticeably as he struggled to draw in air. "Paige, you're…you're emotional." Walter exhaled loudly, shaking his head. "Go home and rest. Y-You're not thinking straight."

He didn't think she meant it. That was apparent in his eyes. Paige felt his distance more acutely than ever and she was tempted to throw herself at him again, feel him safe and alive against her, but he needed more than that. He deserved more than that. "I'm not emotional. I mean, I am, because you really scared me," she breathed, her voice breaking on the last words. "But I'm not being impulsive. I would have done it four days ago if you hadn't disappeared."

Walter's expression softened but he held back, still hesitating to cross that line they had drawn between them years earlier, the second their feelings for each other became too strong. "You said this wasn't what you wanted."

She'd always wanted this. That, of all things, was never the problem. "Walter, I was afraid of hurting you again. And of being hurt by you again. But staying friends hasn't stopped that." Paige pushed her hair away from her face, tangling her hands in it to stop herself from reaching for him before he was ready. "I know we both keep doing the wrong thing, and I don't know, maybe we'll completely crash and burn together. But I'm already crashing and burning without you."

The genius said her name again, almost under his breath, but Paige knew him well enough to recognize that he didn't have anything to say after that. She continued without acknowledging it, Happy's words a persistent echo in her head.

"We need to stop waiting for some future in which we'll get this right. We are both going to be hurt and disappointed sometimes. It's what happens when two people love each other, but if we're together, we could also be happy. Most of the time. And I think that's more than we're managing apart."

Paige stopped abruptly, a little breathless, and she could practically hear the gears moving in Walter's head as he stared at her. "Love each other?" he said finally.

She blinked, confused by his response. "What?"

"You said…when two people love each other."

"Oh." Paige let out a strangled laugh and stepped forward, knowing exactly how to answer his unspoken question and wanting to touch him while she did. Her palms traveled up to cradle his face, careful to avoid his bruise as he watched her with the focus that never failed to make her weak. "Yeah, Walter. I love you. And now that I'm saying it out loud, I know none of this sounds very romantic, but if you still love me—."

"Yes," he interrupted bluntly, earning an amused smile from her.

"Yes, you still love me?"

"Yes. I l-love you. Yes to…everything." Walter's hands drifted tentatively to her waist, his grip growing firmer as she relaxed into the contact. "I want to make you happy, Paige. You and Ralph."

"I know. You could start by not getting kidnapped again."

The corner of his mouth curved. "Okay."

Paige grinned and tipped her head, recapturing his lips. She'd spent so long fighting, so long denying herself this, that underneath the passion and intensity which marked everything Walter did, there was an unmistakable sense of _relief_ as she let herself fall.

* * *

Toby snorted. "You? You're taking a day off?"

Walter frowned, unsure why the behaviorist was skeptical. Okay, so he'd never particularly grasped the appeal of vacations, but spending time with Paige and Ralph was hardly a chore. "Two days off, actually."

"Ha! I give it ten hours before you're begging to come home. Twelve if Paige brings along something sexy," he amended with a wink.

"Shut up, Toby." Walter's tone was less than threatening as the image of Paige wearing something not entirely…work appropriate…flooded his mind. He shook his head to clear the thoughts. With Ralph coming along for the weekend, Walter didn't have high hopes for much alone time. But he didn't begrudge the young genius's presence. This was a family trip.

_Family._ Was it too early to think like that? Maybe. But Walter suspected that he'd always thought of them that way.

"I'll be fine. Paige said it was to help me recover from the kidnapping, but I've assured her that's unnecessary. I believe the true purpose is for us to work on our communication, uninterrupted." Even though they were together now, that wouldn't erase the past few months. They still had plenty to issues to overcome. He wasn't sure how he would manage a thorough discussion about their relationship—about space, Tim, his disappearance—but if anyone could guide him through it, it was her. "And since you and Happy are finally leaving for your honeymoon, this is an ideal time. Cabe will call us if an emergency arises."

Toby smirked. "Whatever, 197, have fun. And don't blow it." He slapped Walter's shoulder and the genius frowned.

"Blow what?" he called after Toby.

"Whatever he said, please ignore it." Walter turned back around to see Paige and Ralph standing behind him, bags in hand. She rolled her eyes. "You know he's going to give you a hard time for a while."

It had only been a couple of days and Walter wasn't sure Toby would _ever_ run out of innuendos about him and Paige. But that seemed like a small price to pay for getting to leave with her and Ralph at the end of the day instead of watching them walk away.

"Uh, are you ready?" he asked, snapping out of his internal monologue. "I thought we could pick up lunch from Kovelsky's before we get on the highway."

"Sounds good." Paige smiled and grasped his hand, curling her fingers around his. She'd done that often, in the past few days, and even though he knew logically that they would have to separate when they reached the car, he found he didn't object to it.

With them, everything was different, and he didn't mind at all.


End file.
